Theme 3: That's Amazing!

The Stranger

Houghton Mifflin Company

Meet the Author

When Chris Van Allsburg was growing up, he had no idea he would one day be an artist. He did enjoy art, however, especially drawing cartoon characters. His favorite time was the two days a week when he had art class at school. He even went to school sick if it was an art day! As he grew older, Van Allsburg's interest in art faded a little bit. But after high school, he enrolled in an art school, mostly because he thought the classes would be easy. He was wrong about that! The classes were long and hard, and he felt that the other students had more art experience than he did. But he discovered that he still loved art as much as he had when he was younger. He mainly studied sculpture, and he went on to get a Master's degree in sculpture after college.